Poetry Contest

Rules

1. This contest is open only to Christians. It is open to all Christians. You do not need to be a member of Utmost Christian Writers. You may be a published poet or an unpublished poet. It does not matter what country you live in—but you must be a Christian believer to enter our contest.

2. Send up to five (5) poems with your entry fees to: Utmost Christian Writers Poetry Contest, 121 Morin Maze, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6K 1V1 (Do not send entries by email.) Make your check payable to: Utmost Christian Writers(You have the option of paying by cash, check, money order or on-line: see Rule #6). Please note that your poetic entries must be sent to us by regular postal mail—with an official entry form—even if you pay your fees by Internet.

3. Poems may be rhymed or free verse, up to sixty (60) lines, but must not have been published previously or have won any prize in any previous competition of any kind.

4. Each poem must be typed as a separate manuscript, with no name or other identification on it. If your poem requires multiple pages, number the pages.

5. Fill out an entry form (copies of the form are acceptable) and include it in the same envelope as your entries. Entries must be POSTMARKED February 28, 2018 or earlier.

6. Include an entry fee of $20 for each poem entered. (Make your check payable to: Utmost Christian Writers.) For example, if you entered 5 poems (the maximum permitted), you would need to send a check for $100. American citizens should submit fees in U.S. dollars. Canadian citizens should submit fees in Canadian dollars.

(We prefer payment by PayPal, but we accept checks drawn on banks in the USA, Canada, Great Britain and Australia. We accept "International" postal money orders and cash.)

You may also use your credit card to securely pay your fees over the Internet (see button on the entry form).

7. Be sure to send only copies of your poems (not originals) as manuscripts will be destroyed following the competition. In no case will entries be returned to entrants. Please do not send a SASE with your entry.

8. Winners will be announced publicly on April 14, 2018.

Winners will always be announced on the Utmost Christian Writers web site.

9. By accepting a prize, any winner of a cash prize of $100 or greater authorizes Utmost Christian Writers Foundation to post the winning entry at the Utmost web site in perpetuity. All poets retain copyright and all other publication rights to their work. We place no restrictions on the rights of winners to publish or sell their work elsewhere following the announcement of prizes.

10. Prizes will be sent by first class postal mail. Prizes are paid in American dollars. ALL PRIZES WILL BE AWARDED.

11. Poems will be judged by an independent committee of poets under the administration of Utmost Christian Writers Foundation director, Barbara Mitchell. Under no circumstances will Utmost Christian Writers or the judges enter into discussion with any contestant. At least 14 prizes are guaranteed to be awarded as follows:

GRAND PRIZE: $1,000.00

SECOND PRIZE: $500.00

HONORABLE MENTIONS (10): $100.00 each

BEST RHYMING POEM: $300.00

HONORABLE MENTION RHYMING POEM: $200.00

12. In no case will prize amounts be reduced or substituted. Winners will receive announced cash prizes even if the number of entries is fewer than expected.

What is a Christian?

In previous years we have had a number of people ask whether they are "Christian" for the sake of our contest. It's not our desire to judge religious beliefs—or to enter into doctrinal disputes—but we hope the following will be helpful. If you are Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or any other identifiable religion that does not put forth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Savior, then you are not a Christian for the purposes of our contest. If you are an agnostic or atheist you are also not a Christian for the purposes of this contest. We mean no disrespect to you or your faith. A Christian is a person who believes Jesus Christ is the only Savior, that He died for the sins of the world and that He rose from the dead. A Christian has accepted the sacrifice of Jesus' life for his or her personal sins, and is attempting to live as Jesus Christ taught we should. Aside from these basics, we ask you to judge for yourself if you are a Christian.

What does "previously published" mean?

• If your poem has been printed and distributed by retail sale or postal mailing in quantities over 1,000 copies, it is considered "published" and is not eligible for our contest. (This includes self-published work.)

• If your poem has been accepted for Internet publication by another party, it is considered "published" and is not eligible for our contest.

• If your poem has been posted by you on the Internet, it is considered "unpublished" and is eligible for our contest, but it should be removed from all web sites for the duration of our contest.

• If your poem has been printed in an anthology published by Poetry.com, Noble House, Famous Poets, etc. it is considered "unpublished" and is eligible for our contest. (These companies typically print only ONE copy of the anthology for each poem submitted to them.)